Britain presses Yemen over protests crackdown

Britain's Foreign Office said Tuesday it had summoned the charge d'affaires from Yemen's London embassy to express concern over reports of "deaths and casualties" in the ongoing protests in Yemen.

A senior Foreign Office official told Abdulmalik Al-Eryani that Britain was deeply concerned over the "use of live ammunition to control demonstrators" and urged the government to "listen to the legitimate grievances of the Yemeni people."

Britain also pressed the Yemeni government to "make urgent progress in implementing much needed political and economic reform."

The Foreign Office advised British nationals in the southern city of Aden to "take a cautious approach, maintaining a heightened level of vigilance and keeping a low profile at all times."

According to human rights group Amnesty International, at least 27 people have been killed since protests against the government of President Ali Abdallah Saleh started on January 27.